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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Spinach-Apple Salad with Maple Vinaigrette Dressing

I first had this salad at a gathering for dinner at a friends house. It was delicious! Since I don't make very many salads, mainly because I only know how to make a regular salad with lettuce and vegetables, I asked for the ingredients and stuffed it in my recipe book. Fast forward six months to last night. We had dinner at a friends house and we brought a salad. I decided to try my hand at the salad from the summer. It was an absolute hit! My ingredient portions make a very large salad, so if you're just making it for your small family, you may want to half it. I also forgot to take a picture last night, and the left overs don't look very pretty, so no picture this time around! We had this with lasagna and bread last night, and went perfectly! By the way, my kids, like most, don't like salads. The good thing about this one, is my kids like most of the ingredients. They don't eat the spinach, but were able to eat the apples, craisins, and walnuts.

Spinach-Apple Salad with Maple Vinaigrette Dressing

from my friend Mandy

Ingredients:

Salad:

Fresh Spinach (approx 5 cups)

1/2-1 cup craisins

1 cup toasted walnuts

5 oz feta cheese, crumbled

2 Granny Smith apples, chopped in bite size pieces

2 TBSP lemon juice

Wash spinach thoroughly, and pat dry. I do this even if the bag says washed and ready to eat. Place in a bowl. Chop apples into bite size pieces, toss in 2 TBSP lemon juice and add to spinach. (This prevents the apples from turning brown.) Dump feta cheese, walnuts, and craisins into the salad bowl and toss. Once ready to serve, pour prepared dressing over salad and toss one more time.

Dressing:

2 TBSP Maple Syrup

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard

2 TBSP Olive Oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper (If you don't like a lot of pepper, half this to 1/4 tsp)

Combine dressing ingredients in a bowl with a lid. Shake ingredients until emulsified. Pour over salad just before serving and toss salad in dressing.